At all stages of your treatment pathway, you will receive my direct access telephone number. This will negate the need to go via any third party, such as a secretary or the hospital, in order to obtain any routine or urgent advice. I will be available 7 days a week for you in this regard. This is a very important aspect to the service I pride myself in providing, giving you the reassurance and confidence to make your journey through this difficult time as smooth and anxiety-free as possible.
This and all other aspects of the service I provide have resulted in very high satisfaction levels from my former patients, rating my service an average of 4.9/ 5 on Trustpilot.
It is safe to perform light exercise after surgery. I will individualise the advice relating to more vigorous exercise when I review you at your post-operative visits.
You can shower and wash your hair from the day after your procedure, however, it is advisable not to allow water to enter the eye for approximately 2 weeks following surgery. This can be avoided with simple measures including wearing swimming goggles during showering or washing your hair backwards in a sink similar to hairdressers.
Drops are prescribed to be used for several weeks following the procedure. Additional drops will be prescribed if the pressure in your eye is found to be excessively high at any point.
There may be some discomfort initially which generally becomes less on a day-by-day basis. Simple oral analgesia such as paracetamol for a few days is usually sufficient, if required. It is common to experience mild itching for 1-2 weeks following surgery.
There may be some discomfort initially which generally becomes less on a day-by-day basis. Scleral buckling surgery tends to produce slightly more discomfort than vitrectomy surgery. Simple oral analgesia such as paracetamol for a few days is usually sufficient. It is common to experience mild itching for 1-2 weeks following surgery.
Drops are prescribed to be used for several weeks following the procedure. Additional drops will be prescribed if the pressure in your eye is found to be excessively high at any point. If oil is used, I generally require you to use a few drops a day until the oil bubble is removed.
I will arrange to see you 1-2 days following the procedure, then again at 1-2 weeks and 2-3 months. If additional visits are advisable, for example, to check or control your eye pressure, then I will arrange as many visits as required in order to maximise the safety of your eye and to achieve the best final result.
I generally employ modern sutureless microincision techniques for performing vitrectomy surgery, which does not usually require the use of stitches. |Sometimes stitches are required, however, and always so if a scleral buckle procedure is performed. These may take anywhere between 2-5 weeks to completely dissolve.
Generally, it is inadvisable to drive whilst there is gas in the eye due to the sudden loss of vision in one eye, and the often distracting nature of a partially absorbed moving gas bubble within the eye (see gas section above). It will be safe to drive once the gas bubble has completely absorbed, and if there is sufficiently good vision overall using both eyes to satisfy current DVLA visual criteria. If oil is used, you will be able to drive if the vision in your other eye meets DVLA criteria. In all instances, you must feel safe to drive. You will be advised whether you need to contact DVLA at your follow up appointments.
You must not fly at any point if there is any residual gas in your eye. Once the gas has fully absorbed, then may fly. It is safe to fly if you receive an oil bubble to reattach your retina. It is not advisable, however, to schedule any foreign travel for immediately after eye surgery, in particular retinal detachment surgery.
After the anaesthetic is administered, your eye and face will be covered with a sterile drape. The whole vitrectomy operation will then be performed through 3 tiny incisions. You will hear vibrating noises throughout much of the procedure from the vitrectomy machine. You will not be able to see details of what is happening but may see only shapes or bright lights, or nothing at all. The operation will last from between 20-40 minutes. At the end of the procedure I routinely administer some antibiotics and antiseptic to minimise the chance of infection in your eye. I will then place a protective eye pad to shield your eye overnight. I will fully inform you of the posturing instructions and you will then be able to return to the eye clinic or ward.
You will be able to go home 1-2 hours after a local anaesthetic, and slightly longer after a general anaesthetic. The eye pad is removed the next day and you can start instilling your eye drops. There may be a small amount of discharge at this stage. Initially, your vision is likely to be worse than before the operation. This is perfectly normal and you must not feel alarmed about this. You will be reviewed 1-2 days following your operation for extra reassurance, to detect any immediate post-operative issues, and to answer any further questions you may have in detail. If any further drops are required at this stage, these will be prescribed. I will then check with you that you fully understand all instructions. There is usually some redness of the eye which disappears after just a few weeks, which is a benefit of the modern microincision equipment I use exclusively.
This will depend on multiple factors including your occupation, the level of vision in your other eye, and whether you must drive for a living. I will tailor this advice to your circumstances, but it is generally prudent to allow 2 weeks off from work. In most instances, it will be possible to then return to work or continue to work from home.
There are no known treatments including drops that can prevent the development of an ERM
- Retinal detachment. The risk of this is less than 1% but if it occurs, further surgery will be required to prevent visual loss
- Cataract development. This is where the natural lens in the eye becomes cloudy, and is required in majority of patients within 2 years of initial vitrectomy surgery. When cataract surgery is performed, this does also provide an opportunity for correcting any pre-existing refractive error such as short- or long-sightedness or astigmatism.
- Blindness in the affected eye due to post-operative infection or bleeding during the operation. The risk of this is extremely low (< 1 in 1000 cases)
- High or low eye pressure after the operation. This is usually temporary
- Temporary inflammation in the eye which is usually readily treated with drops
- Temporary bruising and swelling around the eyelids
- Lid drooping which may very rarely persist
- Possible allergy to drops
- Double vision which is usually very temporary
All surgery is performed as a day-case procedure. I perform most ERM vitrectomy procedures under local anaesthesia, whereby a small amount of anaesthetic is administered around the eye to numb it and permit surgery to performed painlessly. Whilst you will need to be comfortable and lie still for the duration of the procedure, you can feel reassured that if you do need to move, you can simply inform me and I will then allow you to make yourself comfortable again. The advantages of this approach are that there will be no requirement to starve before the procedure, you can go home very soon after the procedure, and there will be no risk to your general health unlike with general anaesthesia. If you feel that you may be quite anxious during the operation then mild sedation, in addition to the local anaesthetic, can be provided by one of my team of highly-experienced private Consultant anaesthetists. This is an effective option which still retains the benefits of local anaesthesia. Some patients may still prefer general anaesthesia where you are put completely to sleep for the operation. For this option, you will be required to be nil by mouth prior to surgery and may require some pre-operative tests to ensure safe anaesthesia. I always also provide supplemental local anaesthetic when general anaesthetic is given, as this significantly alleviates any immediate post-operative discomfort.
I perform most vitrectomy procedures under local anaesthesia, whereby a small amount of anaesthetic is administered around the eye to numb it and permit surgery to performed painlessly. Whilst you will need to be comfortable and lie still for the duration of the procedure, you can feel reassured that if you do need to move, you can simply inform me and I will then allow you to make yourself comfortable again. The advantages of this approach are that there will be no requirement to starve before the procedure, you can go home very soon after the procedure, and there will be no risk to your general health unlike with general anaesthesia. If you feel that you may be quite anxious during the operation, then mild sedation can be provided by an anaesthetist in addition to the local anaesthetic, which is an effective option in such cases, whilst still retaining the benefits of local anaesthesia. Some patients may still prefer general anaesthesia where you are put completely to sleep for the operation. You will be required to be nil by mouth prior to surgery and may require some pre-operative tests to ensure safe anaesthesia. I also provide supplemental local anaesthetic when general anaesthetic is given, as this significantly alleviates any immediate post-operative discomfort.
Most epiretinal membranes affect only one eye. However, approximately 1 in 10 idiopathic ERMs affect both eyes. This means that most people who have an ERM will not go on to develop one in their other eye. If you developed an ERM secondary to a condition, the risk of developing a secondary ERM in your other eye will depend on if that condition occurred or is present in that eye.